My kids and I have attended Razorfest in the past…and by Razorfest, I mean we showed up in time for the Red vs. White football game and avoided the craziness of the pre game festivities. With that being said, this year we did something different! We were invited to participate in the 1k Fun Walk in honor of our favorite charity, the Williams Syndrome Association!
We were some of the first people to arrive.
We started our day at 8 am! Soon, OUR celebrities arrived! I might need to apologize for the amount of photos that will be included in this post, but I won’t…there were too many to choose from, and some awesome things that I want you, my readers, to feel like you were a part of!
Bear and Bug were SO excited to be a part of the festivities! When the Chick-fil-a Cow and Coca-Cola Bear showed up, you would have thought we brought their best friends to the party!
We had already registered for the race on line, and quickly received our ‘race packet’ which included an awesome t-shirt, and bags for each of the kids (which was REALLY nice for them to carry around their own stuff)! Donating on line was easy too, and it was a breeze to pick the charity of your choice!
Champions for Kids hosted the event along with some of their sponsors, and we had a really great turn out! There were over 15 different charities that were there to be supported! Remember the Simple Service Project I did for CFK? Go here to see that! The Champions for Kids website has all sorts of different service projects that you can do right in your home town!
I was honestly amazed by the different charities out there that I wasn’t even aware of! So many needs to be met, so many opportunities to give and help out! It was an awesome experience and I am glad that it was an event that was on a kids level to help them see the benefits to helping others!
We gathered our groups up on the field…Check out our adorable bell ringer for the morning!
They gave away several gift cards of $50 to the organizations that participated. A couple were for team spirit, and one was for our team for having the most ‘walkers’ registered! We were very happy about that!
This was a great walk! It was short, just a 1K, but they did something really different. Four times they blew the whistle as we slowly walked around the field, and each time, someone from the group shared part of their story. Each group gathered in a circle to listen to their storyteller share.
This young man shared about participating in the Special Olympics and how much fun he had running with other kids, and how we needed to get involved and help make a difference. He was so sweet and VERY excited about running!
This is Easton and his mom. She talked about finding out that he had Williams Syndrome, and how very helpful and encouraging the support group was to them through that difficult time.
When we finished the walk, we had some local celebrity help calling the hogs!
(Current and previous Razorback Athletes who came out to support their favorite charities!)
Woo Pig Sooie!
Afterwards, some group/family photos. First, our very own Williams Syndrome group with just the families!
Then the kids with our very own Razorback, Jonathan Luigs We were so appreciative of him coming out to show his support!
This is Paige and her precious family! We are very thankful for her and the hard work that she put into helping make this happen!
No event is complete without this family! My boys want one of these uni-tards SO bad!
My precious nephews…eager to get to the bouncy house!!
The Spirit Buses taxied us over to the rest of the festivities happening at Razorback Stadium! They dropped us off right at the stadium, no parking hassle, or a bunch of walking to the event…We got front door service!
Most of the charities from the ‘Fun Walk’ had booths set up over here to raise awareness and educate people! There were so many games for the kids to play and win prizes at…it was overwhelming, but very organized and not at all the chaos that I had assumed for all these years (and thus avoiding this part of Razorfest altogether)!
Bear, Bug and Heidi waiting to get into the bouncy house…The boys were so excited, and I am pretty sure that Heidi was wishing she could go too! Oh, and don’t you just love the sweet t-shirts we got? I love mine!
All kinds of fans came out to celebrate and show their support! This was just too cute not to take a photo of! She also had two other dogs in a stroller with ball caps on, and decked out in Razorback gear!
The Razorback Cheerleaders were ‘in the house’, getting everyone revved up for the game! Of course we had to call the Hogs!
Red VS White…I don’t think I will be spoiling it for you if I tell you the Razorbacks won! 😉
The girls were insistent on standing in line to get autographs from the players…I was worried only because we didn’t have anything for them to sign, but I didn’t need to worry…
The great folks from Abbott Nutrition were passing out footballs to get signatures on! We all got one and were really excited about seeing the players!
This was the line up…not too shabby if you ask me! We made it through the line in time to hit the first group!
The guys were all very friendly, and seemed like they genuinely cared about the fans…that is always a nice feeling!
My favorite autograph was by far the one I got from this adorable kid! I asked him if he would sign my ball and his eyes lit up and he looked at his dad who said, “Do you want to?” He shook his head yes and scribbled on the corner of the football for me. . .
Made my day…and I think it made his too!
I am so very thankful to be involved in such a great community, who loves their football team, but also involves us in helping out! There were food donations being made, donations given to charities, and an overall sense of us being part of something bigger.
“I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Champions For Kids #cbias #SocialFabric” However, those of you who know me, know that I love doing things like this and giving back to the community! Never fear, you will always ‘hear it like it is’ from Sarea!